The spring picture thread

Andre

I was shooting some macro pix in the park today.



Actually I was targetting this lichen in that pic:



and this one:



But it's more about the new life:







Feel free to share your spring pictures.

rewebster

I hate to have to mow the first time each year--its violets time


the magnolia just smells great




The two new nectarines and the old one are blooming and the peach is just starting (not in picture)


the front yard has been in bloom (daffodils, hyacinths, tulips) for a while; and ceta, hosta, star flowers, lilies, and lilies of valley, red peonies (short red stalks) are coming up all over


some ferns are still in fiddlehead, more lilies of the valley----the flower petals of the magnolia will turn the ground pink and white for a while--then, turn rust color, dry out and the worms eat them all within a couple weeks:


worm mounds--last year, I think--but its the same every year
The worms reach out of their hole at night, and drag the blossoms back to the top of their hole to munch on (day and night)from the protection of their hole

Redbelly98

Wow, nice action shot of that photographer. This one was well camouflaged, good find!

Andre

He was totally caught of guard indeed

Here is a grebe today, with spring in mind, thinking about family planning.

Andre

I pay them a visit nearly every day, maybe they get used to me and maybe they agree to show off their offspring in another week or two. Here are both of them.



The nicest shot from a series, slightly cropped and reduced to 30% of the original.



The backlight was rather challenging and required quite some fine tuning from the original raw picture file.

rewebster

Ferns are great for photographing

Borek

Nice geometry

Reminds me affine fern.

Gokul43201

Heh! I took some very similar pictures of younger ferns last spring.

rewebster

do I have quote that one about great minds?

Andre

Meanwhile, I saw Huey, Dewey, Louie and (or in) April, today

Andre

Seen in the local garden today:



Spring in pink:

turbo

If the ferns are ostrich ferns, the young "fiddleheads" are very tasty. Steam them and serve with butter and a bit of cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

We don't have too much new spring foliage, apart from some new tiny leaves on willows, etc. So here's a picture of what we do have - snow-capped mountains. We got snow both days last weekend.

Andre

Meanwhile the grebes have been on the nest for several weeks now. It looks like the wings are spread a bit more. Chicks underneat?



Life size crop, notice the algae fibres on the nose:

Kerrie

Ferns and baby ducks-can't get any more spring-like than that!

turbo

Well, it's mating-season for crane flies. This amorous couple was on the back deck, and when I startled them, they flew onto the wall. Very clumsy flying, BTW, because they were hooked together, but somehow they pulled it off. By the way, the female crane fly (on the top) is a couple of legs shy of a full complement.

Honeybees are here early (though no pictures). We haven't had many around the past few years, but today I saw several, comfortably ahead of the flowering of my apple trees. Fingers crossed for good pollination and a great crop.

Andre

The goose chicks are maybe spring-est?

hypatia

The best sign of spring here, Moral Mushrooms!